Ex-student union president sues union over CFS referendum

USSU loses lawsuit, but still has options

VERONICA CARR STAFF

After more than a year of controversy and allegations, Robin Mowat, a University of Saskatchewan graduate, won a lawsuit filed against the University of Saskatchewan Student’s Union (USSU) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) on Oct. 13, 2006.

In October 2005, a referendum, similar to the one held in November 2005 at the U of M, asked University of Saskatchewan students to join the CFS. Results came in with 55.4 per cent of voters approving despite accusations that the referendum was invalid. After a meeting was held to discuss the Elections Board report on the referendum, USSU decided to approve the results of the referendum regardless of the noted concerns.

In May 2006 Mowat, a former USSU president, brought an application under the Non-Profit Corporations Act to achieve a legal declaration that the referendum was invalid.

“My goal for the lawsuit was to get someone detached from the politics of the situation to decide if the referendum was fair or not. I was on the ‘not valid’ side and there were a lot of people on the ‘valid’ side, but I knew that if I didn’t go through with it that nothing would have been done about it,” said Mowat. “There were a lot of unanswered questions that I thought needed closure.”

Eight days before the referendum began, the USSU voted to suspend its own referendum bylaws; under the CFS constitution, any organization that wishes to become a member of it must use the federation’s bylaws. However, the complaint alleged that the USSU’s own existing bylaws required a separate, USSUled referendum asking students to approve the collection of a $9 CFS fee.

Another complaint was that the CFS policy-mandated Referendum Oversight Committee, comprised of two CFS representatives and two USSU representatives, was not a legitimate part of the CFS-USSU drafted referendum policy.

The USSU Elections Board considered these points, and on Feb. 9, 2006 voted not to approve the results of the referendum, recommending that another be held with the rules established in advance.

The Students’ Council ratified the results of the referendum; “its response was to ignore the very process it had created to ensure there was a fair referendum,” stated Judge R.S. Smith’s ruling.

Smith concluded that “the referendum held by the USSU on the issue of whether it should join the CFS is of absolutely no force or effect.”

The ruling declined to award remuneration to Mowat, or require that another referendum be held, the other assertions of the complaint.

Ryan Allan, USSU president, says that they aren’t ready to make any decisions just yet on whether or not to appeal and hold another election or do nothing at all. “We are going to wait until we meet with our legal counsel and get some more feedback before we start making public announcements on the subject.” comments Allan.

Allan was elected USSU president in October, after Evan Cole — who was USSU vice-president (operations and finance) in 2005 when he led the official “no” campaign on the referendum — resigned from the presidency in July, citing a need to preserve the “integrity” of the students’ union amid the ongoing controversy. Cole supported Mowat’s case with an affidavit stating that he witnessed voting irregularities, for which the USSU executive attempted to have him impeached. According to U of S’s student newspaper, the Sheaf, the affidavit was later rescinded.

USSU owes the CFS approximately $160,000 in membership fees and how that will be dealt with is currently under discussion. The University of Saskatchewan’s board of governors voted in May 2006 to not administer the collection of $9 in CFS member fees from every student.

The CFS was unavailable for official comment. In the Oct. 19issue of the University of Toronto student newspaper the Varsity, CFS national office treasurer David Hare was quoted as arguing that the ruling “has no bearing on CFS membership as defined in the bylaws of the Canadian Federation of Students.”

Now that the official ruling has been made, Mowat said he felt good about the results and is proud that he did his part and “tried to make sure what was right happened.”

However, there are still unanswered questions for Mowat: “I feel like the results so far are just a semi-colon to my question and not a period.”

“I hope that through it all USSU will take the advice of their own elections board and have another referendum. This time let’s just hope that it’s fair and democratic.”

With files from Tessa Vanderhart.





Volume 94 Issue 10	The Official University of Manitoba Students' Newspaper Website	October 25, 2006

Home About Us Advertise Contact Staff Current Issue PDF Employment Letters to the Editor Meet the Staff Online Archives Personals Volunteer	Font Size Respond Email Print-Friendly Ex-student union president sues union over CFS referendum USSU loses lawsuit, but still has options VERONICA CARR STAFF After more than a year of controversy and allegations, Robin Mowat, a University of Saskatchewan graduate, won a lawsuit filed against the University of Saskatchewan Student’s Union (USSU) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) on Oct. 13, 2006. In October 2005, a referendum, similar to the one held in November 2005 at the U of M, asked University of Saskatchewan students to join the CFS. Results came in with 55.4 per cent of voters approving despite accusations that the referendum was invalid. After a meeting was held to discuss the Elections Board report on the referendum, USSU decided to approve the results of the referendum regardless of the noted concerns. In May 2006 Mowat, a former USSU president, brought an application under the Non-Profit Corporations Act to achieve a legal declaration that the referendum was invalid. “My goal for the lawsuit was to get someone detached from the politics of the situation to decide if the referendum was fair or not. I was on the ‘not valid’ side and there were a lot of people on the ‘valid’ side, but I knew that if I didn’t go through with it that nothing would have been done about it,” said Mowat. “There were a lot of unanswered questions that I thought needed closure.” Eight days before the referendum began, the USSU voted to suspend its own referendum bylaws; under the CFS constitution, any organization that wishes to become a member of it must use the federation’s bylaws. However, the complaint alleged that the USSU’s own existing bylaws required a separate, USSUled referendum asking students to approve the collection of a $9 CFS fee. Another complaint was that the CFS policy-mandated Referendum Oversight Committee, comprised of two CFS representatives and two USSU representatives, was not a legitimate part of the CFS-USSU drafted referendum policy. The USSU Elections Board considered these points, and on Feb. 9, 2006 voted not to approve the results of the referendum, recommending that another be held with the rules established in advance. The Students’ Council ratified the results of the referendum; “its response was to ignore the very process it had created to ensure there was a fair referendum,” stated Judge R.S. Smith’s ruling. Smith concluded that “the referendum held by the USSU on the issue of whether it should join the CFS is of absolutely no force or effect.” The ruling declined to award remuneration to Mowat, or require that another referendum be held, the other assertions of the complaint. Ryan Allan, USSU president, says that they aren’t ready to make any decisions just yet on whether or not to appeal and hold another election or do nothing at all. “We are going to wait until we meet with our legal counsel and get some more feedback before we start making public announcements on the subject.” comments Allan. Allan was elected USSU president in October, after Evan Cole — who was USSU vice-president (operations and finance) in 2005 when he led the official “no” campaign on the referendum — resigned from the presidency in July, citing a need to preserve the “integrity” of the students’ union amid the ongoing controversy. Cole supported Mowat’s case with an affidavit stating that he witnessed voting irregularities, for which the USSU executive attempted to have him impeached. According to U of S’s student newspaper, the Sheaf, the affidavit was later rescinded. USSU owes the CFS approximately $160,000 in membership fees and how that will be dealt with is currently under discussion. The University of Saskatchewan’s board of governors voted in May 2006 to not administer the collection of $9 in CFS member fees from every student. The CFS was unavailable for official comment. In the Oct. 19issue of the University of Toronto student newspaper the Varsity, CFS national office treasurer David Hare was quoted as arguing that the ruling “has no bearing on CFS membership as defined in the bylaws of the Canadian Federation of Students.” Now that the official ruling has been made, Mowat said he felt good about the results and is proud that he did his part and “tried to make sure what was right happened.” However, there are still unanswered questions for Mowat: “I feel like the results so far are just a semi-colon to my question and not a period.” “I hope that through it all USSU will take the advice of their own elections board and have another referendum. This time let’s just hope that it’s fair and democratic.” With files from Tessa Vanderhart.


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